PHILADELPHIA (9-4): A team winning the games that matter. Consider what this team has endured this year - an injury to its star QB, its top running back and two of its top receivers. Plenty of potential distractions, and a mid-season WTF moment in a loss against Oakland. And here they are at the top of a brutal division. They've lost to New Orleans (like everyone else), Dallas and San Diego. Two of those teams are almost assuredly going to have first-round byes. Another is probably a playoff team. Their defense isn't great right now - you can throw on Sheldon Brown. The rest of the schedule isn't a cake-walk, but they're better than all three remaining opponents. Win when it counts, and this is a team to be feared in the postseason.
DALLAS (8-5): My friend the Cowboys fan is imploring us not to use the D word. As in December. At this point, their late-season losses are in their heads. And the tough schedule isn't helping. They'll need to show some signs of life against New Orleans on Saturday or nothing is taken for granted, not even that playoff spot that seemed like such a sure sign. One thing's for sure - they're not the dominant team they looked to be at 8-3, and their inability to beat really good teams isn't going to give anyone any faith in them come playoff time anyway. If they miss the postseason, Wade Phillips is out as head coach.
NY GIANTS (7-6): 2-6 in their last eight and not inspiring much confidence. But the game against the Eagles on Sunday showed they still have some fight left. Still, winnable games in the next two - against Carolina and Washington - could prove to be their saving grace. Win those and set up a must-win situation against a Minnesota team that might not have anything to play for? This team's not out of it yet, especially with Dallas swooning.
MINNESOTA (11-2): Just when you thought they were in trouble, they play like gangbusters against Cincy. All three of the remaining games are winnable, but this team desperately wants to rest for the postseason. As predicted two weeks ago, Minnesota might be in for a rough patch if Favre - the all-time INT leader - starts throwing picks. He's started to regress down that path, so keep an eye out for his accuracy down the stretch, especially without safety valve Percy Harvin. And watch to see if defenses try to attack the void left at linebacker.
GREEN BAY (9-4): They just keep rolling. At this point, Green Bay's biggest weakness is the same as Dallas - they can't beat the elite teams. Three pesky teams remain against Pittsburgh, Seattle and a perplexing Arizona squad, but winning two should be enough for the Packers to cruise into the playoffs.
NEW ORLEANS (13-0): They're going for perfection, according to head coach Sean Payton. But here's one reason for pause with this team - they play their best football when the spotlight shines brightly on them. Look at the way this team plays when the spotlight isn't on them - three sluggish wins in five weeks against a beat-up Atlanta team, a bad Washington team and a terrible Rams team. Put it this way - if the game against Dallas was on Sunday at 1 p.m., I think the Cowboys win. But it's Saturday night at 8, so I think New Orleans has it locked down. That might be troublesome later on.
ARIZONA (8-5): Blow out the high-flying Vikings one week, drop seven turnovers against a lowly 49ers team the next. It's going to be that kind of season again for the Cardinals. Will the injury to Larry Fitzgerald make a major impact? One thing's for certain - if last week told us anything, it's that Arizona's rushing attack is shoddy at best. The problem is, when it really comes down to it, do you WANT to invite this team to throw the ball?
Division Winners: Philadelphia, Minnesota*, New Orleans*, Arizona (*-Bye)
Wild Card Winners: Dallas, Green Bay
No changes on the NFC front. Philly and Dallas play in Week 17, and the way things are shaping up, it looks like they could well play again in the first round of the playoffs. That's going to be very, very interesting. Dallas has beaten Philly once this year, but the two teams have been moving in different directions ever since. The question remains - can any of those four teams beat Minnesota or New Orleans? The answer two weeks ago was a resounding no, but we're starting to see some cracks in the armor of those two juggernauts. This race is far from over. But at the end of the day, with the road to the Super Bowl almost assuredly running directly through New Orleans - the toughest place to play in the league - any team will be hard-pressed to knock off the Saints this year.
1 comment:
So this still exists aye? I used to actually check and forgot about it for sometime. Perhaps I will begin to check again more often. We shall see.
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